I currently have a room that has a total of 7 ceiling lights ( 3 on each side and one in the center)
In the center position I want to install a ceiling fan.
Per the directions I can contol the ceiling lights and the fan light with the wall switch and the fan with the pull cord. Perfect.
I hooked the ceiling fan black and blue to the black coming out
of the outlet box and the white to the white, but when I turn on the switch the lights come on and so does the fan.
By the way the wall switch is a dimmer.


If I want to be able to dim the lights and the ceiling fan light, but I want the fan separate from that dimmer so I can control it by pulling the chain on the ceiling fan, what do I have to do?

 

First, not a good idea to have a fan served by a lighting dimmer. Fan controllers for speed would be the way to go, if the fan had a seperate circuit.
The fan and lights are a married couple. When you dim the lights, the fan gets the same thing.

 

You can do what you want, but unfortunately probably not with the wiring you have now. You'll have to make some decisions. Can you run new cable from the wall switch to the lights?

To do this right, you'll have to figure out more about how this is wired now. Start at the box where the dimmer is. Turn off the breaker and pull the dimmer out of the box without disconnecting any wires. Tell us everything you see, not only what is connected to the dimmer, but also any other wires that may be in the box not connected to the dimmer.

If you want that fan motor to last very long, leave it off until we get this all sorted out. That dimmer switch will slowly kill that motor.

 

In the switch box there is a black wire, a white one and a bare copper wire.

 

Okay, that's a good start. For now, you might want to replace the dimmer with a regular switch. That way you'll have light again until we get a final solution.

I assume that all three of those wires were connected to the dimmer and to the switch that preceeded it. Is that correct?

The power does not come into the switch box. We now know that much. So it comes into one of the seven ceiling boxes. The next step is to figure out which one. The best answer for you is to hope it comes into the box where the ceiling fan is. So now tell us all the wires in the box where the ceiling fan is (not counting the wires from the fan itself). I know that there will be black, white and bare wires, but I need to know how many of each. Look carefully in the back of the box for wires tucked away back there. If there is more than one of each color, then I need to know how they are connected (not counting the connections to the fan).

By the way, what did you do to beef up the box and supporting structure where your fan is. You don't want it to come crashing down on your head some day.

 

Thank you so very much for responding so quickly.
ok i will try to explain this the best i can
4 wires come into the box, I will call them wire #1,2,3 and 4.
wire # 1 the white joins with the black wire from wire #3 & 4, the black wire joins with the black wire from wire#2.

wire#2 the white wire joins with the white wires from wire# 3 & 4

i tested the wires and the black wire from the #3 wire is hot.

when i took the light out that was there the 2 black wires from wire #1&2 were capped together with the black from the light fixture and the black from wire#3 the black from #4 and the white from #1 were capped together with the white from the light fixture.

Hope this makes sense.
Thanks

 

Thanks. That was a good description. And you are lucky in that you can accomplish your goal with the existing wiring.

First, however, I believe you are incorrect about this statement:The only thing that makes any sense is that the light fixture's white wire was connected instead to the white wires from cables 2, 3, and 4. Can I convince you that this may be the correct situation?

Here's how to do what you want:

• Connect the black wire from the fan to the black wires from cables 3 and 4 and the white wire from cable 1.
• Connect the blue wire from the fan to the black wires from cables 1 and 2.
• Connect the white wire from the fan to the white wires from cables 2, 3, and 4.
• Of course, connect the grounding wire from the fan to all the other grounding wires.

In this way, you can put the dimmer back in. The dimmer will control all the lights, including the light on the fan. The fan can be turned off with the pull chain, regardless of whether or not the lights are on.

 

Thanks I will try the wiring you sent.

Just a quick note, I did check this and that is the way it was wired:
the black from wire#3 the black from #4 and the white from #1 were capped ???

 

Yes, I certainly believe that, "the black from wire#3 the black from #4 and the white from #1 were capped." I just don't buy that, "together with the white from the light fixture" part.

 

Your a genius. Thanks so very much. ?
All works well.

 

When I turn on the lights of the ceiling fan using the dimmer, there is no buzzing and all is well...
But when I turn on the fan by pulling the chain the fan produces a humming noise??
It is not specific to this room and the fact that it is on a dimmer, because in another bedroom there is no dimmer and that ceiling fan also makes this humming noise?
What could it be???

 

Sounds like a quality of the brand of fan you purchased.